The London Stock Exchange’s attempts to grow have been overshadowed by merger talks between NYSE Euronext and Deutsche Börse

The jubilant mood inside the London Stock Exchange was about to dissolve.

Last Wednesday Chris Gibson-Smith, chairman of the LSE, and Wayne Fox, his
counterpart at the Toronto Stock Exchange, spent the day in the spotlight
after the two bourses confirmed a planned £4.4 billion marriage in an
announcement at 7.06am.

Xavier Rolet, the LSE’s chief executive, and Tom Kloet, boss of the Canadian
exchange group TMX, had been engaged in a similar charm offensive to sell
the deal to media and investors in Toronto.

But all four watched in disbelief as trading in the shares of NYSE Euronext
was halted in New York, and Deutsche Börse was also stopped for “news
pending”.

Their deal was about to be overshadowed by news of a much larger one. The joy
at being able to unveil a proposal that began with talks five months ago
soon turned to frustration as the deal